The RRG flies for about six seconds, compared with the Firefly’s eight seconds, with the final few seconds providing birds-eye-view video. Like the Firefly, the RRG measures 3.8 cm in diameter, though it is slightly longer.

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Article Summary

The Firefly is a new disposable camera fired from a grenade launcher designed for those unfortunate moments a soldier encounters once in a while when you need to see what’s ahead, but don’t have a UAV to tell you. The Firefly is a miniature projectile weighing 145g and launched from a standard-issue M203 grenade launcher attached to an M16 assault rifle. It’s a use-once video camera with a life-span of just eight seconds. The idea behind the Firefly is that it is launched skyward above the area you wish to get a look at – say, over the next hill or above the location of people who are shooting at you. The camera has a range of 600 metres and and thanks to the wings that extend once it is launched, an extended hang-time of around eight seconds during which it transmits high resolution, colour video images back to portable PC or handheld (with add-on receiver and antenna) of what’s lying directly under its trajectory.